Re: survey: who works full time on DFly and who has 'day jobs' ?

"Hiten Pandya" <hmp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4087255b$0$50171$415eb37d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Jonathon McKitrick wrote:
>
> > On Sun, Feb 22, 2004 at 03:41:52PM +0000, Justin C. Sherrill wrote:
> > : I ask this because one of the larger employers based in my town
(Xerox,
> > : here in Rochester) has sabbaticals for employees, where an employee
can
> > : leave, do work for a nonprofit for up to 6 months, and then 'come
back'.
> >
> > That's a fantastic idea. I'm working at a firm in South Jersey, and I
would
> > love to take time off and work on DFly, python, or something similar.
> >
> > What is the benefit for the employer?
>
> Political I suppose. :-)
It's often a good way for companies to hold on to their talented employees.
Often time the brightest minds in a firm can produce great ideas that are
outside the scope of the firm, and therefore the ideas are relegated to the
back corner of the employee's mind. These companies have seen bright minds
leave just so that the employee can try to turn the idea into something real
and tangible -- scratching the itch, per se. Often time these people never
come back, either because they know they've lost everything they've worked
for at the company (salary, position, etc), or because they manage to
establish a small business concern centred around their great idea that is
enough to keep the bills paid.
Given that many companies do not allow people to contribute to
free/open-source projects on their own time while working full-time
(ownership of IP is entrenched in some labour laws), most employers realize
that is is very therapeutic to let employees "scratch the itch". But this
presents a seemingly impossible legal impasse in terms of IP rights.
The (compromise) solution is to give a sabbatical -- technically, a period
of unemployement but with a guarantee of the same position/salary upon
return.
The employer benefits by getting a more motivated, happier employee (since
they have seen that the company does care about the employee's personal
interests) -- and the employee gets the benefit of "scratching the itch" and
the life experience of doing so.
Where I work (IBM in Toronto, Ontario) they do this as well, but only for 2
months per year.
--
Matt Emmerton